Make First Aid Training mandatory for all driving license applicants. #EveryMinuteMatters

It was only yesterday that a little girl was coming back from school and was hit by a car. For half an hour, no one called for an ambulance. Later she was brought into the Emergency chamber and as the ER doctor, I did not have the heart to tell her parents that their child could have been alive had someone given her the basic first aid while they were waiting for the ambulance.

As a concerned citizen and as an emergency department veteran doctor, I see accident victims coming in every day. It saddens me to see that most road accident victims die because they do not get timely first aid. First aid that could have kept them alive till proper medical aid reached them. And this helplessness has driven me to write this petition.

I recently read the report ‘Road Accidents in India – 2016’ that was released by Shri Nitin Gadkari and it paints a grave picture that fatalities resulting from road accidents have drastically increased. Hundreds of people lose their lives every day; lives which could have been saved had people around them done anything about the situation. Add heart attack and brain stroke fatalities to this and the number would run into millions.

We have a long way to go in First Aid training. However, I believe we could take a giant leap if Emergency First Aid Training becomes a mandatory module for all citizens getting a driving license. As responsible adults, it should be a prerequisite for us being granted the permission to drive on the roads, to be able to maintain safety for ourselves and of the people around us.

Call to action

I call you to join this petition to urge Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transportation and Highways to make Emergency First Responder Training mandatory for every Indian citizen who applies for a driving license. Not only would it save road accident victims, but it would also save millions of victims who succumb to medical emergencies in absence of first aid.

Let no lives be lost to ignorance. Let no Indian say he is unable to help.